A good piece of slash and burn criticism of an epic, way, way past its sell-by date:

Space invaders
As the world braces itself for a new bout of Star Wars fever with Revenge of the Sith, Tim de Lisle for The Guardian offers 40 reasons why the franchise hails from the dark side:


1) The sheer length
A long time ago, in a Hollywood far, far away, sequels were not taken seriously. After striking gold with Jaws, George Lucas's friend Steven Spielberg didn't bother making Jaws 2 - he moved on to Close Encounters. Star Wars is the only major motion picture ever to have generated two sequels and three prequels (Star Trek IV doesn't count). Lucas, who swore for years that he would not add to the original trilogy, can't even stop now.

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I saw "Star Wars" in a movie theater, but I remember very little about it, except being amazed that I'd heard it was such a great movie. I was never interested in seeing the sequels.

Was it "Star Wars" that started the trend of getting actors with great reputations (such as Alec Guinness) to appear in schlock, in an attempt to give it some credibility?

I've never been much of a Star Wars fan, but I remember the advertising campaign in the Los Angeles area. There were just black billboards with the words "Star Wars is Coming". It left you wondering what Star Wars would be, and why it was "is" instead of "are". By the time the movie was released, there was a lot of suspense. Quite unlike contemporary film marketing, which gives away most of the movie before you ever have a chance to see it.

Star Wars haters will enjoy this send-up of Star Wars fans done by Triumph the Insult Dog (warning: contains PG-13ish language and themes):

http://www.starterupsteve.com/video/Con ... -Wars.html

--Andre

I remember seeing Star Wars when it first came out,it was brilliant then and it still is. I'm not that keen on the prequals,sort of takes something away from the films that came out many years ago.Saying that it does answer a lot of questions as to how Darth Vader became the "person" he did.

Andre, thanks a bunch for that link. I'm laughing so much, tears are running down my face. That dog has a mean mouth.

Ditto. Yeah, Triumph has a mean mouth and a very quick wit.

Andre...That was hilarious! And, I am a fan of the original trilogy...